Sheathed flexible sheet



g 28, 195! SALFISBERG SHEATHED FLEXIBLE SHEET Filed Jun 21 1946 attorney Patented Aug. 28, 1951 SHEATHED FLEXIBLE SHEET Leroy L. Salflsberg, South Orange, N. J., assignor to Ivers-Lee Company, Newark, N. J a corporation of Delaware Application June 21, 1946, Serial No. 678,518

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates in general to flexible sheets, particularly sheets of fabric, and the invention especially contemplates such sheets impregnated with or serving as a vehicle for a chemical or medicine in liquid, paste or powder form. More specifically, the invention is directed to toilet articles such as small pieces of fabric, for example flannel, that are used in cleaning the face and generally are impregnated with or carrying a cleaning liquid, face cream or face powder.

It is the current practice to make such cleansing of powder sheets of small size in individual, substantially moistureproof and airtight containers so that the sheets may be conveniently carried by a lady in her handbag, used once by simply tearing open the sheath, and then discarded.

Heretofore these sheets have been enclosed flatwise in a sheath of the envelope type and metal foil has been used as the sheathing medium. Articles in this form require large amounts of sheathing material, such as foil, and consequently the cost of the sheathing material is as great as or greater than the cost of the cleansing sheet that is enclosed in the sheath. Furthermore, the sheathed sheet is awkwardly large and easily becomes bunched" or deformed and thereby difllcult to handle.

Therefore one object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved combination of a flexible sheet and a sheath wherein the sheet is so arranged as to occupy a minimum of space whereby the over-all dimensions of the sheathed sheet will be relatively small as compared with known types of flat sheathed sheets. I,

Another object is to provide such a flexible sheathed sheet wherein a relatively large flexible sheet may be enclosed with a minimum of sheathing material so that the sheath shall be inexpensive as well as of a convenient siz and shape.

A further object is to provide a flexible sheet of the character described which shall be folded and enclosed within a sheath or cover so that the sheet will automatically partially unfold when the sheath or cover is torn open and thereby facilitate removal of the sheet from the sheath.

Other objects are to provide a sheathed flexible sheet that is folded within the sheath so that the folds become set, and when the sheet is removed provide a rough or washboard surface to facilitate cleaning operations; and to obtain other advantages and results that will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a sheathed flexible sheet with portions broken away for clearness in illustration.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the flexible sheet partially folded prior to the enclosure thereof in its sheath; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing a portion of the sheath removed from the sheet preliminary to. use of the sheet.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the reference character I designates a flexible sheet which may be of a character, size and shape to fit the use for which the sheet is intended. Where the sheet is to be used as a face-cleaning cloth, preferably it will be formed of flannel and impregnated with a suitable cleaning liquid; and the sheet may be of a convenient size for one use and subsequent discard, for example about two inches wide and three inches long.

The sheet is folded into a compact form and enclosed within a sheath or cover 2 which may be of any suitable construction, size and shape. Preferably the sheath will comprise two opposed layers 3 and 4 of metallic foil, between which the compactly folded sheet is arranged, which layers have thermoplastic or adhesive coatings on their juxtaposed surfaces so that they may be sealed together. As shown, these layers are sealed together in zones 5 that bound the compactly folded sheet and thereby form a. neat, convenient package.

Preferably, the sheet is folded transversely alternately in opposite directions to form a plurality of plies 6 of substantially the same area,

adjacent plies preferably being in abutting contact with each other. This type of folding is sometimes called zigzag folding or accordionpleating. When the sheet is thus folded, it becomes a compact body, the thickness of which is the width of the plies, the width of which is the aggregate of the thickness of the plies, and the length of which is the original width of the sheet. If desired, the sheet could be folded lengthwise instead of crosswise as shown.

This compact body or folded sheet may be arranged between the layers 3 and 4 of sheathing material in any suitable manner, for example as described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 690,769, now Patent No. 2,541,387. In general, two strips of the sheathing material The folded sheet is thus sheathed, and its plies are disposed angularly to or transversely of the planes of the sealing areas I, and preferably the piles l are narrow and of about the same dimensions so the complete article is thin and substantially flat.

Of course it is desirable that the sheathing material be of such nature that it may be torn to facilitate removal of the sheath from the sheet. and preferably the edges of the sheath are notched as indicated at 1 to indicate where the sheath should be torn and to facilitate the tearing operation.

To remove the sheath from the folded sheet, the sheath may be torn transversely from either of notches I as shown in Figure 5, and when a portion of the sheath has been thus removed, the protruding Portion of the sheet partially unfolds ,or spreads apart fanwise so that the sheet may be conveniently gripped between the fingers, pulled from the remaining portion of the sheath and easily spread flatwise for use. The folds of the sheet become set so that when the sheet is unfolded it has a ribbed or washboard" surface which enhances the efllciency of the cleaning op-- eration.

While I have specifically described the invention as a sheathed cleaning sheet, it should be understood that the sheet might be used as an applicator for a medicine'in liquid or paste form, or as a powder puff. Furthermore, it is possible to make the sheet of such size and character that it may be used for general cleaning and polishing operations.

It will thus be seen that the invention is especially useful in the preparation of a flexible sheet in compact and conveniently-handled form, and where the sheathing material is moistureproof or airtight and the layers thereof are hermetical- Number 1y sealed together, the liquid. paste or powder in the sheet will be protected against contamination and also against ingress or egress of moisture into or from the sheath. Accordingly, a sheet impregnated with a liquid can be maintained in wet condition for long periods of time, and the chemical or medicinal properties of the liquid in the sheet may be preserved indefinitely. Likewise, the fragrance of a face powder carried by the sheet enclosed within the sheath may be preserved indefinitely.

While I have specifically suggested the use of metallic foil for the sheathing material, other material may be used, for exampie, Pliofilm" or cellophane," paper, etc., depending upon the properties of the sheet to be enclosed within the sheath.

I claim:

As an article of manufacture, a sheet of flexible material zigzag folded intojuxtaposed plies of substantially equal area, and a flexible protective sheath comprising two opposed substantially fiat layers of flexible packaging material secured together in zones that are in substantially a common fiat plane and form and bound a compartment enclosing said folded sheet with the planes of said plies of the folded sheet disposed transversely of said common plane of said zones, said packaging material being tearable transversely of said plies of said folded sheet to form an opening exposing one end portion of all of said plies so that said end portions of the plies will partially unfold and spread fanwise when the packaging material is torn to form said opening.

LEROY L. SALFISBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Richardson June 8, 1909 Milmoe Feb. 24, 1931 Salflsberg June 28, 1938 Salfisberg Feb. 4, 1941 Real et al July 2, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Sept. 8, 1923 Number 

